


Retribution

by astral_alien8



Series: Enemy of My Enemy [1]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Gen, Other, Trekstock Prompt 3: Seven Deadly Sins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-29
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-16 13:50:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/862743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astral_alien8/pseuds/astral_alien8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kirk and Harrison meet face to face after the events of Into Darkness, and it is a less than friendly encounter...<br/>WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN INTO DARKNESS YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS!! HARRISON'S REAL IDENTITY IS REVEALED INSIDE THIS STORY!! On a less dramatic note, parts of the movie are referenced here. This story also pulls from TOS lore as well, ish, in the fact that it does have references to parts of the Eugenics Wars, fanfic style.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Retribution

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek or any of its characters. They are owned by CBS and Paramount.

  
  
 

"Oh shit..." One of the monitors in the lab started signaling a crisis code, as one of the younger interns read the message received on the screen, her complexion going ghost white. "Sir, it's a malfunction code coming from one of the stasis chambers..." She felt her breath hitch as she read off the last of the memo coming in from the monitor. "There are signs of cognitive function coming from one of the Augments down there, sir...it appears one of them may be showing signs of distress...the chambers are programmed that if something should go wrong, it would attempt to revive the person inside to prevent them from being trapped within a failing chamber, however the revival process is also failing, and is causing damage to the person's system."  
Before the young woman could continue to explain the process of potential risk to the life inside the failing chamber, the lead doctor on the case immediately reached for a comm device, calling  in his alpha medical team. Once all members were assembled, he assigned them to their duty stations, most of which were at the room in which the patient would be received. Himself, a nurse, an anesthesiologist and a nurse's assistant would be present at the site to take the Augment from the failing chamber, and keep him stable as they transported him to the hospital across the street. They brought with them some sedatives, and a crash kit, prepared to do just the bare minimum to get him from point A to point B. Once he was certain that his main staff had headed off toward the hospital to prepare a room and secure the area, he turned his attention back to the intern. "Now. Who's chamber is it that's failing?"  
The young girl looked even paler than before as she met his eyes. "It's...Harrison's, sir..."

 

  
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_There was some muddled sounds coming from the background, but just what was it they were saying? He couldn't quite make sense of it. What were they saying? After a few minutes of haze, and one nasty headache, it became clear. It was English. These men were speaking English. Where was he? He tried to look around, but his vision was still not quite clear yet. Oh. It appears one of the guys noticed that he was awake, because he can almost make out the figure leaning over his bed now. The vision was starting to clear, and the man now became more apparent. The stranger gave what passed as a friendly smile, "Well hello there. My name's Alexander Marcus."  Kirk knew who this monster was, but for some reason, in this dreamlike thing, it felt like he didn't...what the..."What's your name?" Marcus said again, his eyes firmly fixed on him. At first he didn't feel himself responding at all. He felt a little uncertain about where he was, who this man was, or if he should reply. Then Marcus spoke again. "I have your ship in tow. The rest of your crew is safe. At least I'm guessing you're their leader, seeing as the ship opted to attempt to revive you first, when we boarded it." He placed a hand on his shoulder, and he could actually feel it! This was turning into one of those odd dreams that you're not sure if you're actually dreaming or if it's really happening. Then Marcus spoke again. "Your name...What's your name? I need to know it, as the leader here, I want to know who you are. Surely you get that, don't you?" He felt himself getting a little irritated at this man, but he responded, albeit a little sharply. "Khan. My name is Khan." Marcus's look got sharper at the mention of the name. He stood straighter, looking down at him sternly. "Khan. As in Khan Noonien Singh?" He spoke matter of factly, but tried not to make him feel as though he was judging him. He felt himself getting defensive, as his mind went to a dark place referencing the Eugenics Wars. Kirk himself wished that he had went deeper into the memory, but he felt himself in the dream, as Khan, stop the thoughts as quickly as they started, attempting to keep the conversation cordial. "I see you know who I am. I see no reason then why I should have to say anything more on the matter of the people on board my ship. What year is this?" Marcus looked a little shocked, but just as quickly, he replaced it with the remnants of a grin. "The year is 2258. You've been asleep for quite a long time.." He then turned away, pacing around for a minute before returning to face him, his look much more intense. He felt his own reaction to Marcus' was more of a curiosity than anything else. What was this man thinking that would cause that sort of reaction? "I have big plans for you..." He heard Marcus say smugly. He felt more than annoyed by this insolence. He felt his muscles tighten, and before he got off a word, he saw the grin forming on the other man's face. "Don't even think of retaliation, Mr. Singh...I kinda figured on who you were, so I took the liberty of creating myself an insurance policy. So if you don't want to be the only living Augment I suggest you hear me out." He gave that a moment to sink in, and it didn't take long before he knew that Marcus saw the look of unease plaster itself across his face. He felt himself respond, his voice dripping with rage, "What did you do to my crew?" Marcus simply pointed to the monitor in front of his bed and turned it on. It revealed the Botany Bay, in tow right outside of the starbase they were on. "See that? That's your ship. That is the starbase we are on right now. I have that ship rigged to explode. If you fail to do as I say, I will END your people, Khan. You understand?" He felt himself shaking with rage. His every muscle was tighter than he thought possible, and he thought he was going to just explode. He wanted to rip this man in half, and destroy this whole place and show him WHY he was the best in the first place. Show this man the real meaning of fear...but he had him by the scruff. He had the one thing that meant the world to him; He had his family. He gritted his teeth and nodded, plotting all manners of revenge should any harm befall a single member of his crew._   


  
As he found himself caught in this bizarre dream, his monitor was chirping rather noisily, tattling on him to Dr. McCoy, who was passing by to check on him at the time. He entered the room, and took note of the monitor, and immediately took hold of Jim's shoulder, shaking him awake, to make sure he was alright. He had a hunch it was a dream, but it was better safe than sorry. Jim's reaction of surprise screamed that it was a dream, and that lead to the doctor giving Jim a scowl that had his disapproval written all over it. "Now jus' what are ya dreamin' about that's got your stats all over the place like that?" He crossed his arms over his chest, not at all pleased with the sight of the readouts that were coming from the monitor above his bio bed. "Y'know that I want you calm and relaxed, for your own safety, Jim. Your condition is still pretty sensitive, and it ain't worth whatever it is you got rollin' 'round in your brain..."

  
Jim was a little amused at the wording his friend had chosen to use, especially since dreams are not really something most people could control anyway. "You worry too much, Bones! Besides, if I can't move, and I can't dream, what CAN I do?" By now, he had put on his best baby blues pity me face, trying to play to his friend's gentler side.

  
McCoy scoffed a little, and recorded the now normal stats that were displaying on the monitor. "Now that's a better read-out. As far as what you can do, I don' care. Just don' do anythin' that'll raise up your stats like that again!" He approached Jim's bedside, running a small device across his body. A few moments later a chirping sound was heard on the hand-held device McCoy was holding. He looked down at it, pressing a few buttons. He set the device down on a table, turning his attention to the PADD in the other hand. He allowed the incoming data from the hand held device to automatically stream itself to the PADD, recording it into Jim's file in the appropriate locations. He looked up at his patient and gave a nod of approval. "That's improvement. You're still not 100%, but it's still a damn sight better than half-past dead." He entered in a few more things, then looked out toward the hall for a moment, and gave a small smile, knowing that it was his friend's favorite time of day. "Looks like it's breakfast time, Jim. How 'bout I get outta here an' let you enjoy your meal. I see the nurse comin' down the hall there with the trays..."

  
Jim gave him a grin and attempted to sneak a peek around the doorway. "Which nurse is it, Bones? One of my types or one I would pass on?"

  
McCoy just rolled his eyes. "Somehow I'd be surprised if you'd passed on anythin' that walked..." He moved a little out toward the hall, giving a sneak glance to attempt a quick analysis. "She looks right up your alley. Then again, they all do, don' they..." He gave a sly grin, before grabbing up the hand held device and heading out the door. "I'll be back later to check on ya. Don' you go gettin' yourself into trouble, either! If any of them turn up with anythin' I'm gonna hunt you down first, y'know..." The grumpy doctor was half teasing, and Jim knew it, but he also knew that he was also part serious too. The good doctor didn't play when it came to safe sex practices, in particular when it came to the crew on the ship, or more directly, his medical staff. This thought made him grin, snickering slightly to himself. McCoy was almost like a parent on that ship. His department was his baby, and he protected it as such! Especially his women, but he suspected the doctor may have just been being stingy, wanting the medical women all to himself. He laughed under his breath, imagining the doctor having the entirety of the medical department's women as his own personal harem.

  
The time he had to think about his amusing topic of Pimp McCoy was relatively short lived, as one beautiful bombshell of a nurse's assistant came carting in a tray of food. He was hungry, that was true, but his eyes were absolutely NOT on the tray! He was scanning every delicious inch of this absolute treasure of a red-head's body. She had the most perfect hour glass figure, and the short medical skirt only served to highlight her beautifully sculpted legs. This woman clearly took care of herself! She was model-quality, so what was she doing here, as a bottom rung nurse's aide? She should be top notch! He could give her the confidence boost she needed, he mused to himself. She just needed a good lay to motivate her self-image. He almost purred to himself, but he was brought out of his daydream when the object of his more than likely later wet dream spoke to him rather disappointedly. "Ahem! I'm not for your drooling pleasure, Captain!" She spat at the young male. She had her hands on her wonderfully full hips, and her right leg stuck out to the side. It was a sign of displeasure, but damn she looked good doing it!

  
He gave her his best innocent smile, flashing her his big baby blues. He leaned back against his pillow, laying his hands on his stomach, fingers interlaced. He met her eyes, in an attempt to garner her respect. "I meant you no disrespect. I just couldn't help it. I haven't really been able to get out of this bed since I regained my consciousness, and you're the first pretty face that's come to see me. I didn't mean to overstay my welcome with the looking." He kept his voice even and warm. He gave her his best Kirk charm, and it seemed to be working.

  
She tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear, trying to stifle a small smile. "Well, I guess I can let it slide this time....but ONLY because of the circumstances!" She then moved to the tray, uncovering the contents it held. Eggs, toast, and some kind of a green jello. It really didn't look that good. You'd figure this far into the future they would have figured out how to make the hospital food taste better...

  
He gave a small groan, and sat up a little, giving a devious smile to the nurse's aide. Of course, she was unaware of that being the meaning behind it, and she was falling into its charms. "Hey, you know, my stats are good, my dexterity's good, and my balance is fine. You think it'd be cool if I go right across the hall to get a snack and a soda? I mean you work here, I'm sure you're aware of just how awful this garbage is..."

  
The woman looked apprehensive, and Kirk gave his best baby deer look. She was melting and fast. "Well...I don't know. Your attending physician doesn't really want you up and about right now, Captain..."

  
Kirk gave her a broken-hearted look. He was a master of the puppy eyes, and he pulled 'em out for this one. "Aw c'mon...it's just right over there. It'll only take a second, I swear...no one has to know..."

  
The woman pondered over this for a moment, before falling victim to Kirk's handsome charms. She gave a nod, allowing him to get up from the bed. She watched him carefully, making certain he rose slowly. He flashed her a smile as he headed out the door toward the snack machines. She headed out of the room behind him, so as to not be present if he were to be caught out of bed. She left the tray on his table, and cast a glance at his backside as he headed down toward the snack machine. Pleased with her view of the hot Captain's hind quarters, she made her way down to the next rooms on her list.

  
Finally able to make it to a place that offered tasty foodstuffs, Kirk pulled out his card. He pondered over the selections available in the snack machine first, and inserted his card and code. Just as he was bending down to retrieve his snack, he felt a sharp sensation rush through his head, and he saw a white stream of light rushing through a black field. Suddenly he was dropped into the middle of a scene, and he felt that familiar sensation...

  
_There was a feeling of anger, and beneath that, a deep feeling of concern. It wasn't fear, but concern; for the well-being of his family, for the people he had come to love. This was Khan again, Kirk realized as the dream began. He saw that he was briskly walking through a tunnel somewhere, and it was hot. Really hot. He came to a door, and threw it open, running up some stairs and through a building, into a large meeting room. He began calling together all of his people, and in a matter of an hour or so, the room was full of a little over 80 people. He looked around at the men and women, and noticed that the look of concern was absent on most of their faces. He felt himself tent his fingers in front of his face as his eyes scanned the people he considered his family. Finally, he spoke. "It appears that the revolt has worsened overseas." There was a shift in the position of a few of the Augments in the room. Yes, these were the other Augments, Kirk realized. One of them spoke up "What does that have to do with us, Khan? Those revolts are over there, and our people wouldn't dare revolt against us. Besides, they know they need us here..." He felt himself narrow his eyes at the response, but noticed that a fairly large amount of the other Augments seemed to agree with the synopsis. The other Augment continued. "Why are you concerned with what's going on over there now, anyway? They have been having that uprising over there for a while. Why is it suddenly of concern to you?" He responded to the other Augment sternly, his icy eyes fixed firmly on the other's. "It is of concern because it is moving our direction, and fast." The mood shifted a little, the tension increasing a little. "I was out on the perimeter of our western territory when I noticed the spy planes overhead. They are scoping us out. Do you have any idea what that means?" His voice was firm, and he saw the posture of just about everyone tighten. This was a concern. "Exactly. I see by your postures that you get my point. And to make matters worse, they have grown significantly. This extermination campaign is about to breach our territory, and we haven't the man power or the weaponry to match it. They far outnumber us, ergo, they outgun us as well. We can stay and fight to the last, but we will simply go down like the rest." There was a painfully awkward silence as many were clearly feeling the stress of the situation. If they were that close, and their numbers were that great, what could they do besides at least go down fighting? One of the females spoke up this time. "Khan....if we are outgunned and outnumbered, what CAN we do? We have no options. This campaign isn't known for sparing any Augments whatsoever.... What's your plan of action?" He looked around again, and back at the female. He sat up this time, leaning back in the chair. "I have taken the liberty of commandeering a DY-100. I've modified it for a very specific purpose...one of extended space travel..."_   


  
Kirk felt himself being shaken awake again, this time getting chewed on by an angry Dr. McCoy. "Jim! Jim, damnit wake up!!"

  
He groaned groggily, as he felt a pang of disappointment at the disruption of the dreamlike memory that was playing out only moments ago. Half out of it still, he accidentally voiced his displeasure aloud; "Ungh....Bones...why'd you do that..? I wanted...to know what happened next..."

  
McCoy gave him a somewhat baffled look, but it was quickly followed with an exasperated sigh, and a final shake. "That ain't funny, Jim! You had no business outta your bed! I tol' you you weren't ready for that yet! You were to stay on bed rest until you were cleared! At the VERY least you shoulda been accompanied by a nurse or a physician!" He had Kirk set onto an anti-grav stretcher and carted back to his room. They got him back to his bed, and ran a few scans over him to make certain he was alright.

  
Halfway through the last scan, the young Captain regained his consciousness fully, and snapped back, sitting up sharply in his bed. "Woah shit! What happened?!" His heart was racing for a moment as it dawned on him what had happened. He looked around, and realized he was in his room again, but couldn't recall getting there. He looked to his friend for answers.

  
McCoy narrowed his eyes at him, pressing his shoulders, forcing the younger man to lay back down on the bed. "You're gonna have ta hold still for this scan, Jim." He then resumed moving the small device across his body, waiting for the chime of the main device to signal that it had completed its collection of the readings. "To answer the question, you apparently passed out at the snack machine. I told you you weren't ready to be out an' about yet, but you jus' had to go an' find out for yourself, didn't you?" He clearly wasn't thrilled. "Believe me now, Jim?"

 

  
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His vision was a little unclear, and it felt like his heart and lungs were on fire, and his head was about to just explode at any moment. He felt himself wince a little as the sudden wave of sensation hit him all at once. He was just able to move slightly, he was noticing. He continued to work on subtly attempting to get his motor skills working again, but it seemed like with every motion, his head pounded worse. It felt like the world was spinning, and his every nerve was ablaze. What was going on? What happened? Last he knew they had put him back on ice, and that was to include the injuries that had not fully healed from the crash of the USS Vengeance and the attack of the enraged Vulcan. Oh. Yeah those injuries still hurt as well, he noticed. He realized that he was not alone. There was some kind of commotion going on, but he was not able to really do much at the moment. He heard them outside of the tube, but they sounded far away. Then the pain intensified. Oh this was really bad. This tube was malfunctioning badly. He knew this was a fatal error, and part of him hoped that it would kill him rather than have to face the humiliation of being saved by any of the worms from StarFleet. Silently he cursed his situation, and the coursing pain that was weakening his body. At first it seemed like this was going to play in his favor...like maybe it would wake him and he could sneak out and finish what he started. Now it was turning into a nightmare. The damn thing was malfunctioning, and there was nothing he could do. This was an error that even his superior engineering could not surpass. He was a sitting duck, just waiting to die in his halfway awoken state. What a miserable way to go. As the pain seared through his body like a wildfire in a parched forest, and he began to feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness, he heard the crack and hiss of the tube opening. This would have been the best sound in the world, had he possessed the strength to come out fighting, but presently, it took all he had to even twitch a finger. He heard the medical equipment beeping and chirping as they checked his stats, and felt just vaguely, as they ran an IV. He felt himself hoisted from the tube and placed on a stretcher, he imagined, but to where it was bound, he had no idea. He heard them spitting out muddled medical jargon, but it all sounded so far away, he almost couldn't make heads or tails of it. Through the blurred haze as he was able to occasionally open his eyes, he could see the fluorescent lights in the underground network of tunnels that connected the facilities. The edges of his field of vision began to go black as he felt the rush of an anesthetic course through his veins. Apparently one of the medical team members had noticed his eyes were open, and drugged him. The last thing he recalled seeing was an oxygen mask that had just been unraveled, as he barely felt it grace his skin before it all faded to black.

  
A bright light met his light blue eyes as he felt the sting of the sharp contrast of the utter darkness from the anesthetically induced slumber, to the blinding brilliance of the radiantly white room of the hospital quarantine he was now housed in. He felt the cuffs on his wrists, and scowled slightly. Quite apparently they really didn't want him going anywhere. He looked around the room, and noticed a window. Across the way was a parking garage for another complex, and the level equal to the one he was in was labeled clearly as 3B. He acknowledged this, noting his current position as the third floor of the hospital and turned his attention around the room. It was very plain, and there was no indication of any security features in it that were impressive. There was a camera in one corner, he noted, but that was of little concern to him. He laid back against the pillow, still feeling the pain of the injuries that clearly kept his physical condition anything but peak. He was thoroughly weakened from the awakening in the first place, but even moreso since it had gone awry. This grated his nerves, but it was not really something he was planning on focusing his attention on. He wanted revenge.

  
Just as he was mulling over the manner in which he would first seek out Kirk and his crew, a nurse and a doctor entered his room to check up on him. They shut the doors behind them, the doctor locking them with his personal code that Khan keenly noted as "1219457". He turned his attention away again, pretending he was not interested in their visit.  
The doctor spoke first, looking very uneasy about approaching the Augment in the first place. "Mr. Harrison, I am Doctor Rossingold, the attending physician assigned to your case. This is the head nurse, Liv Barotello, also assigned. We will be taking care of you until you are well enough to be transported to prisoner lockup. It appears your cryo tube had a rather serious complication, and it could not be salvaged. You are quite lucky to be alive, judging by the damage it caused to you. If my previous examination is anything to go by, you may have quite an extended stay with us."

  
Khan gave him a very silent and cold stare, almost calling him an idiot without words. This made the doctor very uneasy, and it was apparent to the Augment. "I think you will find I recover faster than any patient you have ever had, doctor." Was the dry response he received.

  
The doctor looked unhappy with the notion of having to proceed any further with this man, but did his best to remain professional, and went ahead with the exam. He noted everything in his PADD, and looked absolutely stunned by the statistics that turned up on his machine. He looked at the man in the bed and back at the machine. Khan gave him another look that signified he thought the man an idiot, and the doctor righted himself rather quickly. "You'll have to forgive my look of surprise, but I was in a mild disbelief that you really were a true Augment. I thought it was a rumor, but I see it's true...That's...." He trailed off, not wanting to say what he truly thought. Then he saw the edges of the Augment's mouth curl upward just slightly into what could easily have been a grin. The doctor backed off a little and turned his attention back to his PADD, and finished entering all the data. He looked back at the man in the bed, trying to hold his intense gaze. "I have all I need for now, Mr. Harrison. If you need anything just press that button on the bar of the bed. It'll call a nurse, and you can state the nature of the complaint, and it'll be addressed. I'll be back to check on you in a few hours time." He then turned to leave.  
He heard the icy voice from behind and felt a chill run down his spine. This was one patient he was not going to enjoy working with. "Very well then, I do have a complaint. I feel that these shackles are unnecessary. I would like them removed. After all, you do have my door locked, these are a bit overkill, don't you think?"  
The doctor looked over his shoulder and shook his head. "No can do, Harrison. That's protocol for all prisoners. Those have to stay on."

  
Khan narrowed his eyes. "One is customary for all prisoners. I am well aware of the rule, doctor. Why is it then, that I am shackled by both wrists?" His look was now a piercing glare. He was clearly annoyed by this.

  
The doctor felt the heat coming from the other, and looked at the two cuffs and back at the Augment. "Well, not all of the patients are rogue Augment terrorists. You are a significantly more dangerous man, Mr. Harrison. We have to take more precautions where restraining you is concerned."

  
Khan almost smirked at this. They had to take extra security precautions on him because he was an Augment. They were a little smarter than he initially gave them credit for, he mused sarcastically. "Very well then. That will be all, doctor." He laid back against the pillow and watched the doctor leave, as he entered the code to lock the door again.  
He waited patiently for the day to wind down. Once the last of the checks had come through, and the closing had commenced, he knew the hospital was running on a skeleton crew. He took the opportunity to muster the strength he could, and work over the shackles. He toyed with them until finally they popped. First, the right hand shackle popped. One of the links had weakened enough that it popped open and allowed him to free his hand. Granted, the cuff was still on his wrist, it was no longer bound to the bed. He then used this hand to help pull the other free. He then turned off the monitors on the bed, and headed for the window. He looked around it, and noticed that there was a ledge. It didn't go very far, but it went far enough to get him over to another wing. He took the opportunity, and slipped out the window. He knew the first thing they would assume is that he either went straight across the ledge, or jumped straight down and ran. Instead, he went up. He didn't have the current strength to handle the fall from the third story, as he'd have to have the stamina to run as well, plus find a way to swipe a disguise before they caught him based on his clearly stand-out hospital pajamas. He climbed upward, initially headed for the roof. He knew that up in the storage facility just below the roof access they kept some of his stuff, because he had overheard the nurse mention it at some point earlier during the examination before the shift change.

  
He finally made it to the roof, and he found his way to the access door. It was locked, as was to be expected. He pondered for a little while, whether or not it was more worthwhile to simply break the lock or just crack the code. He realized he probably didn't have the luxury of time, so he instead, used a stolen employee number he had seen earlier, hoping for the best, that being the doctor's lock code for his room. He keyed in "1219457" and pressed "ENTER" and bingo! It worked. The door lock blinked green and it slid open with a hiss. He stepped inside, and found that it was actually relatively organized, much to his relief. He immediately began scanning through for his stuff. It didn't take long before he found it. He slipped off the hospital clothes, and changed into his own street clothing. It was inconspicuous, and served its purpose just fine. He was rather surprised it was here, but then again, why question a good fortune when you happen upon it? He stuffed the hospital clothes in the box in place of the clothes he swiped, and slipped back out of the storage, and allowed the doors to shut behind him, activating the lock sequence again. He began his descent back down the hospital when he heard the alarms go off. Oh boy. They now knew he was gone. He began paying close attention to the comings and goings in each of the windows before he passed by them. One, however, caught his eye in particular. It was on a level that had already been cleared by the security team, he noticed. He intentionally waited to make certain of that. Then he slipped in one of the other windows in an empty but adjoining room, using the connected bathroom as a means of entry. He locked the bathroom door, then slipped in and locked the bedroom door. He noted that the sole occupant of the room was asleep, so he hopped on the dresser in the room and sat there, staring intently and maliciously at the sleeping form.

 

  
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_Gunfire. Smoke. Screams. Blood. What was he seeing? This was horrible! Suddenly Kirk found himself thrown in the middle of a bloody and violent war scene, and he had no idea where it even came from! He looked around, and he saw people running for cover, and people dead in the streets, but he had no idea why! What was this? This was graphic, and it was disturbing, and what?! Why was he seeing it? Then he felt his own adrenaline rushing through his body, he felt his breath as he was running through the streets, chasing down some of the people that seemed to be attacking this building. He saw a sudden bloodbath of a rising body count culminating at his hands playing out before him! What was going on? This was insane! Then he heard more gunfire from behind, and he felt himself round on them too, opening fire on these guys as well. This was no joke! This guy was for real! He really was a walking weapon! He pursued the attackers, and when he caught up to them, much to his surprise, he realized they were Augments too! This just got a lot worse. This fight was nasty! It got down to it being a one on one, with Khan and one of the other Augments. They managed to disarm one another, and it became a bloody fisticuffs of whose resolve was stronger. It was a demonstration of pure rage and raw power that absolutely took no prisoners. These two were out for each other's lives! The challenging Augment wanted Khan dead, Kirk saw. The scary part about this, is like all the rest of the dreams, he was seeing this through Khan's eyes! It seemed like it held potential to be an even match, but then the tides turned in the fight, and they turned nastily. He felt himself grab the guy's arms and pull them back hard, ramming his knee into his lower back. This simultaneously dislocated both of the man's shoulders, and seriously torqued his back. The challenger crumpled to the ground, a howl of pain erupting from his gut. He felt himself stomp him into the ground, and then lean in over the other Augment, pulling him up by his hair, knee pressed firmly between his shoulder blades, forbidding him to move. "This is why I am the best, and none of you will ever take me out. You will die knowing that you did not possess the strength to take me down, and you wasted your life in the attempt. Pity. You should have simply joined me." He then slammed his head firmly into the ground beneath them both a couple of times, cracking the guy's skull, and leaving him there, a busted, bloodied mess. He walked away, headed to hunt down the next challenger that dared to attempt to take his territory from him. He was met with an Augment who fell to her knees beneath him, hanging her head. "I surrender." He stood over her for a moment, looking her over as though he wasn't certain she was worth his time. He bent down just slightly, grabbing her chin, and tilting her head up. He turned her face side to side, scanning her. He looked into her eyes, searching for signs of deception or weakness. "Stand." He said this commandingly. The young female did as she was told. He circled her, looking over her form. He stopped in front of her again and looked her straight in the eye. "And what makes you think I will let you live?" He said sternly. She kept his gaze and responded evenly, "I have no reason at all to believe you will allow such a thing, however, I also recognize a loss when I see one. I would much prefer to attempt to join your cause than to fight against it. If you will have me, I offer you my unyielding loyalty, as I am well aware of your reputation, Khan." She said this very matter of factly. He scanned her intently. "Mhm. You are aware of my reputation. Then you know I am not so kind as to let my enemies live..." He moved closer to her again and she braced, but made no attempt to move away. "I understand. Do as you will, but I see no point in fighting you, as I already know the outcome." He stared at her before grinning and giving one nod. "Very well. I shall give you a trial period. If I feel there is any cause for concern, I shall kill you on the spot. Is that clear?" The woman nodded once. "Good. Your first test is to begin now. You will fight alongside me and my men in this battle. If I find you to defect in any way, you know the consequences. Now go." With that, the woman vanished off into the bloody scene again, and the horrors continued. It was a nightmare, and he wondered how anyone could return from such conditions sane, or anything less than a drunkard._   


  
Suddenly he began to feel the presence of a white hot pain burning across his mind. It seared through his skull and down his neck. He snapped awake in a cold sweat, partway from all he had just seen, and partway in a panic over the searing pain. A strong part of his famous Kirkly intuition told him the sudden sensations meant that trouble was nearby, and much to his dismay he was correct. Seated directly across from him on his dresser was none other than the man he had grown to hate so vehemently, Khan himself. He narrowed his eyes, but was unable to contain the quickening of his heart rate. He knew he was in no condition to take on the superhuman in his current state. Hell, who was he kidding?! Even in peak condition he was no match for the man, but it just wasn't in his nature to admit that sort of thing. Instead he opted to try to hide his fear, and spoke coldly to the Augment, who was staring at him with killing intent. "How the hell are you even in here?! Who let you out of your cage?"

  
Khan was silent for a moment, still staring malignantly at the young captain. He felt his own body's responses quickening as the surge of adrenaline began to course through his body. He felt all the familiar feelings of rage and hate building as he heard his nemesis speaking to him. It seemed the two fed off of one another, as though they could feel each other's hate. "My cage, you insolent maggot, happened to malfunction. They had no choice but to let me out..." He replied venomously, his dagger-like glare fixed firmly on Kirk. "To answer why I'm in here, I'm certain you can venture a guess..."

  
Kirk looked at his enemy with an equal amount of venom, and replied as sharply as ever. "Too bad it didn't kill you. Would've been a service to the rest of the world, wouldn't it?" He narrowed his eyes right back at the Augment, clearly stating that he would not be so easily intimidated. "Oh and just so you know, I don't do the whole guessing game thing. That gets old by about middle school." He gave a snarky smile at the end of this, his tone of voice oozing disrespect.

  
Khan noted the rudeness in Kirk's words and it grated on his nerves. He hopped off the dresser, striding right over to the bio bed that held him. Kirk felt his heart leap into his throat, but he hid it as best as he could behind an angry glare directed at the Augment. Khan leaned in inches from Kirk's face, his hands placed on either side of him. This was a very blatant threat, his words like ice, his dark voice emanating hate "Listen, you reckless peacock of a captain, you will NOT speak to me in such a manner. As is, my intent for you is nothing short of nasty, so unless you want me to make your suffering and that of your precious crew that much worse, I suggest you hold that tongue of yours, you snarky little bastard." He said this so coolly and almost without even raising his voice. That alone almost made it more disturbing. Given everything he had seen in his dreams, this made the threat that much more intimidating.

  
Of course, the first thing that jumped into his mind, was why would he want to make him and his crew suffer so badly in the first place? What had they done that was so horrible? True to his reckless nature, he didn't think about it beforehand, and he just blurted it. "What is it with you? What did we do that makes us incur your deepest wrath anyway? Did we kill your puppy or something?"

  
Khan clearly didn't find this funny, and he grabbed Kirk firmly by the throat. "That is not funny, Mr. Kirk. Your pet Vulcan killed my crew, and I will have my revenge! All of you will die for that, but you and your precious Vulcan attack dog will bear the worst of it!" Yet again he said this as cold as ice, and the emotion was palpable. It was not lost on the blatant choking that was going on. This made him think back to Spock choking him. What was with people doing this to him?!

  
Kirk struggled against the superhuman grip, and finally Khan released him, just enough to allow him to breathe and speak. "They...are still alive...Spock removed...the chambers..."

  
Khan's eyes got wide at this and he pulled the younger closer to him. "No! That's impossible! Those torpedoes could not have been disarmed and then armed again in such a short amount of time! There's no way!"

  
"He...had it done in advance. He...predicted...your move..." He felt the grip release him more, and was thankful for that. Of course that hand was still there, so for how long was anyone's guess, but for now, his breathing didn't have to be labored. Khan pondered over this for a moment, straining his memory for when they pulled him from the tube. He could not see that well, but...wait...oh shit! There WERE more tubes! They were alive! Maybe? Kirk just might be telling the truth! As he was allowing this to roll around in his mind, Kirk spoke again. "I know you want me dead, and believe me, pal, I want you dead equally, but I do have some questions I want to have clarified before you kill me or whatever you plan to do." Khan's ice blue eyes shifted to Kirk's sapphire hues, an annoyed look of malice clearly still evident in them. Kirk continued anyway, hoping to hook in on Khan's curiosity. "See, I've had some odd dreams here lately I kinda want to know more about. They seem to pertain to you, Lord knows why, but I just wanna know of they have any validity." Khan furrowed his eyebrows just slightly, and Kirk saw that as his cue to continue, recognizing that as intrigue. "What was your plan of action involving the DY-100 in reference to an extermination campaign threat? Those don't seem too entirely related, as you would run the risk of just dying in space anyway...How'd you manage to convince your crew to go along with that idea?" He said this in a snarky manner that was not missed by the Augment, but he almost overlooked it, too busy wondering where in the hell this topic came from.

  
"And just what source did you derive that information from?" He replied gruffly, clearly unamused, not really wanting to relive any part of the Eugenics Wars. This he found moreso annoying than fascinating, honestly.

  
"Like I said. I've been having these sort of memory flash dreams, and I have them from, get this, YOUR point of view." He was still being snarky, but this was the hook that caught and reeled in the rather hostile tyrant.

  
"....Really? Memory flashes?" He paused and mulled over this, his tone was still icy and distant, not quite as malicious, but now moreso intrigued. His grip had not found its way off of Kirk's neck, he noted rather distressed, but perhaps it would get there if he played his cards right. "You see these from my point of view...How detailed do these get?" Now his voice got dark again. He seemed to be more concerned with these memory flashes now. Perhaps there were some secrets that this well-known badass didn't want getting out. That could be amusing, Kirk thought to himself. "Answer me." Came the commanding and almost intimidating follow up response to Kirk's tangent of thoughts.

  
"..Oh. Well, they can be pretty damn detailed. Downright disturbing, even. Hell, one was a war scene. Y'know, you are one disturbing bastard!" He tried to pull Khan's hand from his throat, and felt the hand tighten again, and instantly he let it go, hoping that it would prompt the Augment to, in like fashion, release his throat. No such luck, much to his dismay.

  
"Do not. Do that. Again. I will let you go if I feel like it. If you attempt to remove me again, I will simply kill you. Is that clear?" Kirk nodded, noting the sharp glare that he received from his enemy. He'd better watch his step. "Now. What have you seen so far." He released the tightened grip again, allowing the other to speak once more.

  
Kirk thought over this for a moment before he responded. "I've only had three visions so far. One was when Marcus first found you, the second, I believe, was something to do with a meeting with your crew discussing the options about the extermination campaign coming to your territory, Bones kinda woke me up from both of those, and the third one was a war scene, and that was the disturbing one. Very bloody. You're kinda one helluva deadly asshole in that one.." Khan nodded, seemingly okay with those being the three he had seen. Kirk settled a little thinking this would be the point in time that he would be able to maybe try to weasel in some questions about why Khan felt the need to take down StarFleet, but suddenly he felt the grip tightening on his throat again. He felt himself squeak a little, and attempted to get out a word to stop the choke before he couldn't speak. He needed to divert the attack again, and attempt to keep Khan distracted. Maybe even somehow change his mind about wanting to kill him. "W.ait." He managed to squeak out weakly as he felt the last of his breath being forced from his airway. Khan narrowed his eyes at him, uncertain if he really cared what else he had to say. He held him there, tightening his grip more and more, slowly, agonizingly, until he released again.

  
Kirk coughed and choked for a minute, before Khan spoke. "What do you want, and don't waste my time with some pointless filibuster, or I really will make you suffer all the more..." He spoke cruelly and it was evident his intent was clearly homicide.

  
Kirk coughed out the last of his airway irritation and was finally able to speak. "I...wanted to know...why you still want to kill us? Your crew is alive, Khan. You have no reason to want me or my crew dead."

  
Khan gave him the most arctic glare he had ever seen and it made his heart stop for a moment. "Don't take it so personally, Mr. Kirk. You are not the only one I will kill. You simply have the privilege of being the first. Even still, do you not recall having betrayed me first? You ordered your Mr. Scott to stun me on the bridge of the USS Vengeance, did you not? That's no way to treat a team member, Mr. Kirk."

  
Kirk knew this was not really the reason, and it was moreso just a vendetta he wanted to finish from the fact that he failed to do so before. He swallowed hard, racking his mind for another way to deter the inevitable. There had to be some way to get this guy to not want him dead. Some way...any way! "Have you ever even considered that it would be in your better interests to actually work WITH StarFleet rather than against it? I mean it is best for you and your family. If you keep working against us, you're really only succeeding in maintaining your position as an enemy, and deriving the conclusion that all Augments are dangerous. That just ultimately leads to the conclusion that you guys can't be trusted, and you have to be left in cryo sleep until you finally die or your tubes malfunction. Is that how you want to go down in this modern history, Khan? Is that what you want for your crew? Right now all you're accomplishing is condemning all of them to death! If they find out you got out and you started this death campaign, the first thing they will do is kill your crew, to prevent further trouble, then aim to kill you. Is that your goal?" This was not something the Augment at all expected to hear. It enraged him at first and he squeezed the life out of Kirk's neck, his eyes dark with rage. Kirk had just about blacked out, when the truth of the words sunk in. He loosened his grip on the normal human, allowing him to breathe again. Kirk felt his world finally stop spinning, as his vision began to clear again. He righted himself, looking back at the older male, seeing the look of confusion and...holy crap! Was that sorrow?! It was! He actually felt bad for what he was potentially doing to his crew! Kirk chanced it and spoke again. "Pride can be a dangerous thing, you know. Don't let it keep consuming you, Khan. You've got to think about them. They need you, especially now. It may mean making a painful choice here." He looked at the Augment, and sure enough, he was confused as hell. He wasn't sure what he should do, because he hadn't been faced with this type of problem before. He wanted to go about his attack plot to take down StarFleet and rebuild it how he thought it should be, then revive his crew, but what he hadn't thought of was that they may kill his crew if he did this. Now he was faced with a crossroads. What should he do now? What could he do? If he turned himself in, he'd just be imprisoned, if he ran, he'd be a fugitive with nowhere to go, and nothing to boot. This was a lose lose. He felt a hopelessness for a second or two that Kirk noticed, then the rage was back, and he was taking it out on Kirk again.

  
He choked him to near blackout before releasing him again. "DAMN YOU!!" He spat venomously.

  
Kirk looked at him, knowing this was a misdirection of anger. He was quite pissed at him, but felt almost bad for him in his confusion. "Listen, just turn yourself in, this can't go over well any other way!"

  
"It won't go well that way either you idiot!" He hissed back angrily.

  
Kirk was getting hot, but didn't want to get choked again. He sighed openly, hoping against all odds that someone would think to check on him soon. This was looking more and more hopeless with every passing piece of dialogue that transpired between them. "Neither way is particularly pretty, that's true, but at least if you turn yourself in, it's a show of good faith. Maybe you can get yourself in someone's good graces enough to be considered a candidate for the rehabilitation program they are doing with some of the criminals. Apparently it's showing good results in the trials they've been doing..."

  
Khan narrowed his eyes and pinned Kirk painfully to the bed, which was quite a feat considering that there was a pillow behind him. He choked him again, and Kirk felt like his eyes were about to pop right out of his skull. Khan moved inches from Kirk's face, so close he could even feel the Augment's breath on his skin. "You listen to me, and listen very carefully, Mr. Kirk, I will not be pandered to by something I consider inferior. I will not sit in a little cage, listening to some being with the IQ equivalent of a laboratory chimp, feeding me some lessons on moral cores, and how to properly integrate in modern society. That, to me, is unacceptable. Your race is nothing more to me, than the equivalent of, what to you, equates to a quasi-intelligent pet. You need shepherding, and your modern times are no different. You are an immature species that cannot effectively govern yourselves, and are easily outdone by any manner of your extra-terrestrial enemies, and believe me I know it to be true. I have run a few missions in my time as an agent, I have the comparative knowledge to have drawn my conclusions from. You are the same fear-driven, petty race you were before, the difference is now, you have directed your paranoia outward to the stars rather than domestically, and I have a sneaking suspicion that your crime rates here are still not as greatly controlled as when I had my territory. I have the capability to change all that, and in due time I plan to do just that." He was deadly serious with his statement, and his voice was cold and unwavering. His tone was deep and sharp, and it felt like a knife to Kirk's heart, as he envisioned the tyrant seizing control in his modern world.

  
Then he thought about how Khan's pride and drive to control the human population ran deep, and it was running at the expense of those that he claimed to hold dear. If he did this, he was jeopardizing his crew. " Y'know...I was seriously considering the possibilities of what it could be like for the Federation's benefit, not to mention YOURS, if your stubborn, stupid ass would cooperate, but you just don't get it, do you?! Your damn pride gets in the way, and you're willing to condemn yourself and your ENTIRE crew, whom YOU YOURSELF said you consider your FAMILY, to a DEATH SENTENCE, because of what YOU wanna do. Listen, Khan, You do what you just said to me, and the powers that be really will just condemn ALL of you to death, because YOU are TOO PROUD to just admit that the game is over, and you need to hang up the world conquest thing! You can't even stop what you're doing to SAVE your FAMILY!! Is that what you want for the LAST remaining survivors of the Eugenics Wars?! The LAST of the Augments?! You want to go out LIKE THAT?!" He paused, trying to collect himself a bit. At first he felt a rage emanating from the Augment, but he was not interrupted. He had mentioned this topic before, not quite as angrily, and not in this tone, but somehow now, it seemed this time it was really sinking in a lot deeper. He knew he had implanted a mental bomb in Khan's mind, and it was working its way through his entire system. "Listen, it's not that hard! All you have to do is give the rehab thing a chance! Sure, it's not ruling the world, but was it really so bad being a badass agent, Khan? I mean really? Was it? Besides, if power is what you want, work your way up the ladder the right way, and the sky's the limit in the Federation... if you got the chops for it, that is." He posed the last part as a challenge, hoping that maybe Khan possessed the same weakness for them that he, himself did.

  
Khan was visibly seething, but he surprisingly, didn't immediately start choking him again. It appeared that he did genuinely care for his crew. He sighed heavily, clear evidence of frustration written all over his face. He looked around the room for a moment, making sure there was no evidence of anyone coming to interrupt them yet. He then turned his attention back to the younger male he had pinned to the bed beneath his grip. He silently stared at him for a good few minutes, scanning over him intently, but not entirely sure what to say back. He toyed with the idea of just killing him, but then the images of his crew being killed kept entering into his mind. This was becoming quite the sticky situation. "I will find a way to get my crew safely out of your precious StarFleet's clutches, Mr. Kirk...mark my words...but for now..." He growled and cursed something lowly under his breath, and Kirk thought for a moment, it actually almost sounded like he had said it in another language, whatever it was he had muttered. "...For now I see that it would be in the better interest of my crew to not kill you and yours..." Kirk felt himself heave a sigh of relief, but he felt a shiver run down his spine. The way Khan had said this sounded absolutely chilling...was he seriously going to stand by it, or was he debating doing it anyway? He felt the grip on his throat tighten more and more and more....then he felt his head begin to spin, and his vision started to blur. Then he felt his body raise up, and his head was slammed back on the bed again. He felt the sharp pain resonate from the back of his skull straight through to the front, and he could have sworn he saw stars. Then he faintly felt the moist, hot breath on his ear, and heard the dark icy voice vibrate lowly in his ear, "This is not the last you will see of me, Mr. Kirk..." With that, his vision faded to black, and his hearing dulled out, the last sensation to go, being that of the pain that was thrumming in his head, and the bruising force on his neck that threatened the last of his life's breath from his oxygen deprived body.

  
The light began to filter in slowly, as his eyes fluttered open slowly. As his vision cleared, he could make out a rather attractive nurse leaning over him. This was a nice wake up call, he thought to himself with a weak smile. Then he heard the well-known drawl from his best friend come in from the other side. His eyes shifted the direction of the sound, and sure enough, there stood Dr. McCoy in his hospital whites.

  
"Jim! Welcome back! You had one helluva set a' marks on your neck, and a nasty ol' bruisin' goin' on on your head. You're lucky to be alive, considerin' the likelihood of who your attacker was..." The doctor's features softened to concern as he looked at his friend, uncertain if he recalled the incident in his room or not.

  
Jim looked his friend over for a second, before giving him a typical Kirk confidence smile. "Ah it wasn't that bad, Bones. We mostly just talked. Did he ever turn himself in like we discussed?"

  
McCoy's eyes widened a little at this, and him and his nurse gave each other rather uneasy looks. "Uh...well, not exactly...no. He...sort of vanished. Nobody knows where he went. We've got people all over trying to locate him, but there's no trace of what happened after he left your room..."

  
Jim shifted uncomfortably. "I...see...I guess maybe what I said didn't resonate strongly enough with him..."

  
A few moments of an uneasy silence passed as the medical team continued their check up procedure, when the intercom pinged. "Attention all staff and patients: Escaped patient has reported back and has been returned to safe keeping, all hands may return to duty stations. That is all." Kirk grinned at this, and it wasn't missed by McCoy or his nurse, both of which whom moved to garner an explanation from the bedridden Captain.

  
"Alright, Jim. What happened with you and Khan..." McCoy said, a look of intrigue plastered across his features. "Ya look like a proud parent. What happened? Spill it."

  
Jim just grinned wider and shook his head. "Nah. Just pointed out some major flaws in his plans for conquest. Like the loss of his crew if he tried it."

  
McCoy raised an eyebrow and shook his head, throwing his arms in the air in obvious disapproval. "Only you, Jim! Having casual conversations with a madman like Khan!"

  
Jim just chuckled and nestled back in his bed, grinning again. "Yeah, but you know what, it worked. Khan's a psycho, but he really does care for his crew, and there's the proof. I'd still rather they put those rabid animals down, but at least that loyalty is a redeeming quality."

  
McCoy furrowed his brow, crossing his arms over his chest. "Hmm. Naw, as a doctor, I can't agree with puttin' anyone down, but I can agree with the loyalty bein' a redeemin' quality. He's a psycho, but he does at least care for somethin' more than jus' himself. That makes him one step better than some variations of criminals. There's some hope for him yet."

  
Kirk hated to admit it, but that was true. Khan was a beast, but he wasn't completely heartless. That did give him a leg up over some of the many criminals that were kept. Perhaps there really WAS some hope for the Augments to be rehabilitated into society? Maybe there was more to them than they really knew? After all, he did have that rare insight into Khan's mind from the excerpts of memories he had received from the dreams. He'd have to remember to ask him about that whenever he got the chance next. IF he got the chance...then he remembered the last thing Khan said to him, and he knew he'd get that opportunity; "This is not the last you will see of me, Mr. Kirk..." Oh he could hardly wait for that day...Eternally locked in hate, Khan would always have a place as his favorite enemy, and somehow he knew that...brilliant, ruthless, and far more importantly, bonded by blood and by a deep hate and a strained form of respect. A fascinating enemy, but perhaps one day, with this rehab program looming in the potential future, they may find themselves in the odd position of having to work together again...only time would tell...

  



End file.
